May Outfielder Rankings

Here is the May edition of my rest-of-season position rankings and overall top 300 for 5x5 leagues. I’m using five-game eligibility, so plenty of players have added new positions since Opening Day. Because I love you, I’ve also tweaked the top 300 to include previous rankings this year.

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Top 300 | SP | RP | OF | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | C

Outfielder ROS Rankings

Dropping off: Henry Davis (No. 96), Ji Hwan Bae (No. 132), Stuart Fairchild (No. 145), Avisaíl García (No. 147), Trent Grisham (No. 150)

• I certainly didn’t all like moving my No. 2 overall player down to No. 26 one month into the season, but it’s scary just how little authority Corbin Carroll is hitting with right now. I guess the good news is that, while his average exit velocity is down six mph from last year, his max EV of 111.5 mph is still quite good and down just two mph from last year. His plate discipline has also remained intact, and even if the power remains absent, he’ll do enough in average, runs and steals to remain fairly valuable.

• Don’t get overly excited but it’s a good sign for Mike Trout that the Angels, in need of a roster spot, chose to DFA a pitcher instead of putting the future Hall of Famer on the 60-day IL on Wednesday. Clearly, they think there’s a chance he’ll return from knee surgery within two months. Of course, a lot of things the Angels think will happen don’t end up happening.

• I give preseason projections to every prospect I think has any real chance of seeing time in the majors, but because he wasn’t very good upon moving up to Double-A last summer and the Rockies appeared to have several other young outfielders ahead of him on the depth chart, I didn’t give one to Jordan Beck. Obviously, that was a mistake. In spite of his 32% strikeout rate in Double-A, Beck was promoted to Triple-A to open this season and hit .307/.405/.594 in 25 games before joining the Rockies as a replacement for Nolan Jones this week. If he hits, one imagines he’ll overtake Hunter Goodman and/or Elehuris Montero to stick around once Jones and Kris Bryant return. I don’t think that’s any sort of lock, but Beck has an awful lot of fantasy upside in Coors Field, and I decided to place him 47th among outfielders for now. I don’t feel great about that, given that he really could be back in Triple-A in two weeks, but he has power and speed and I do like his approach at the plate. There’s a chance that he’ll be a top-30 outfielder the rest of the way.

• Joey Loperfido was more of an expected callup after hitting 13 homers in just 25 games in Triple-A. I worry about the batting average and about the Astros’ doubts in his defensive ability at first base, but the power is legit and he’s another guy who can steal bases. He’s No. 58 for now.

• It’s entirely possible that the Tigers will soon commit to Wenceel Perez in center field and send down Parker Meadows. Still, I’m pretty skeptical about Perez, especially in light of his flyball tendencies in a tough environment for power. Meadows might wind up as a bust - he’s certainly played the part thus far - but I still think he has the greater fantasy ceiling of the two. That Meadows is a true plus defender in center will help his case.